Dialogue
As she travels between Milestones, Stella periodically talks to the Starsoul. She may tell it information about her next Milestone, make comments about her emotional state, or crack astronomy-themed jokes. Solar System Moon * An Alien! Right at our doorstep! * Earth looks so blue! * I wonder which of the old spacecrafts on the Moon I'll see. * I'm glad you're here, close to my heart. * I'm shocked! An Alien! But, I'm more surprised that I'm not scared! * I'm so excited! * It was as if I could...feel...the Alien's thoughts. * Oh I thought I saw a satellite. * So many questions!!! * We're here now, in our backyard. * Why did the Alien come to me??? Mercury * I've never seen the Sun so big before! * If I stood on Mercury, I would only see one Sunrise every two years. * Remember how you thought Mercury was actually made up of Mercury? * We did say all the planets, didn't we? We wouldn't miss out on Mercury and Venus. (chk) * We're leaving home behind. Venus * I bought a Brontobyte of shows to watch. * I close my eyes during Slipstream because it's so bright! * If I try hard, I can see Earth. Oh! I can also see the Moon! * It's too bad we won't be able to see Venus' surface. * The Drones sure are busy. * Venus is Earth's sister planet because of their similar size. * Where is that Alien from? Some hidden civilization on Mars? Mars * I can't really see the Earth anymore. * I wonder where the Alien came from. * I'm still a little scared. * Oh the Sun is now smaller. * We actually found Exotic Matter near Venus! Too bad we can only analyze it back on Earth. * When you glow it feels as if you're talking to me. Ceres / Asteroid Belt * We're going to our first dwarf planet! * I didn't see any signs of life on Mars. * Goodbye Earth, it was nice knowing you. * I wonder exactly what the Alien did to you? * I'm looking forward to seeing the Dawn spacecraft. Jupiter * The blue spots on Ceres were pretty! * Wow the Dawn spacecraft was still orbiting Ceres! * I'm getting used to the Alien zipping around constantly. Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto / Kuiper Belt Sedna Inner Oort Outer Oort Edge of Oort Constellation Group 1 Centaurus Crux Musca Chamaeleon Apus Triangulum Australe Circinus Lupus Norma * I miss your voice dearly. * The Normal Cluster is a cluster of Galaxies 222 Million Light years away. * You were often reminded of a certain actress when you saw the Norma constellation. * Norma belongs to the 'La Caille' family of constellations. * The Earth is barely an atom in a sea of stars. And that is an understatement. * The Norma Cluster is estimated to be 10 to the power of 15 times the mass of our Sun! * Norma's asterism is a Carpenter's Square. * 'Norma' means 'Normal'. It's really referring to a Right Angle. * The Gamma Normid meteor showers originate from Norma. Ara * We are going to the star Beta Arae. It is about 5600 times as luminous as our Sun! * Ara belongs to the 'Hercules' family of constellations. * The Red Hypergiant star 'Westerlund 1-26' is in Ara. * 'Ara' means 'The Altar'. The name has its roots in Greek Mythology. * Westerlund 1-26' has 1500 times the radius of the Sun! It is one of the largest stars known to us. Corona Australis * The meteor shower that comes from this constellation are known as the Corona Australids. * Corona Australis means 'Southern Crown'. * We are going to the star Alpha Coronae Australis. It is also called Alphekka Meridiana. * Corona Australis is the counterpart to Corona Borealis. * Corona Australis belongs to the 'Hercules' family of constellations. Constellation Group 2 Telescopium * The Telescopium constellation is of the 'La Caille' family of constellations. * Telescopium is represented by a... you guessed it... Telescope! * We are going to Alpha Telescopii. It has about 3 times the radius of the sun! * There is a snail with the name Telescopium Telescopium! Indus * Alpha Indi is estimated to be a Gigayear old! Or a short scale Billion if you prefer. * The star we are going to is Alpha Indi, also known as 'The Persian'. * There doesn't seem to be any meteor showers originating from Indus. * Indus belongs to the 'Bayer' family of constellations. * The Indus constellation is represented by the Indian. Pavo * The Pavo constellation is represented by a Peacock. * Alpha Pavonis is a spectroscopic binary star, but once we get near enough...! * Pavo is from the 'Bayer' family of constellations. * We are going toward Alpha Pavonis, it is actually a binary star! * Alpha Pavonis is also named 'Peacock'. So the Peacock star is in the Peacock constellation! Octans * It is suspected that there is an exoplanet at Nu Octantis. Let's keep a lookout for it. * Nu Octantis is estimated to be 2 to 3 Gigayears old! * Octans belongs to the 'La Caille' family of constellations. * Octans brightest star is Nu Octantis, it is a spectroscopic binary star. * Octans is named after the Octant, a navigational instrument. Hydrus * Beta Hydri is what our sun might look like in its next stages of evolution. * Hydrus is of the 'Bayer' family of constellations. * Hydrus is represented by a Male Water Snake. Not to be confused with the constellation Hydra! * The Beta Hydri system has appeared in quite a few works of fiction, ashamedly none of which I have read. * We will be going to Beta Hydri, it is Hydrus' nearest and brightest star! Tucana * The Small Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy you can see at Tucana. * Tucana has some interesting Deep-sky objects! * Tucana is named after the bird 'Toucan'. * Tucana is of the 'Bayer' family of constellations. * When we get to Alpha Tucanae, we can finally see for sure if it is a binary star! * You can see the Tucanae Dwarf Galaxy, it is 2.8 Million Light Year away from our Sun. (Wow) Grus * Alpha Grus has a radius 3.4 times the radius of our Sun. * Alpha Gruis is about 100 million years old! * The Spare-Tyre Nebula is a deep-sky object in Grus. What a funny name! * We are heading to Grus' brightest star, Alpha Gruis. It's also known as Alnair. * When we get to Alpha Tucanae, we can finally see for sure if it is a binary star! ** That this message is displayed on the way to Grus seems like a bug. Phoenix * Interestingly, Alpha Phoenicis is an orange giant. I like to imagine it is a giant phoenix egg! * Phoenix, Grus, Pavo, and Tucana are together known as the 'Southern Birds'. * Phoenix is of the 'Bayer' family of constellations. * Phoenix is the radiant of two meteor showers! Known as the Phoenicids, they appear in July and December. * The brightest star in Phoenix is called Alpha Phoenicis, and is also known as Ankaa. * The El Gordo, seen in the Phoenix constellation, has a mass of 3 quadrillion suns! * The Phoenix Cluster, seen in the Phoenix constellation, is 7.3 million light years wide! * The Phoenix constellation is named after the mythical Phoenix! Eridanus * Alpha Eridani is spinning so fast that it is an 'Oblate Spheroid'. It looks like a flattened sphere! * Eridanus is represented by a river. * Eridanus is the first of the 'Heavenly Waters' family of constellations we are going to. * Eridanus is the sixth largest constellation. * Nu Eridanis and Omicron Eridanis are both meteor showers originating from Eridanus. * Oh look! It's the planet Vulc...just kidding! * The brightest star in Eridanus is Alpha Eridani, also known as Achernar. * There is a mysterious Supervoid in Eridanus, one billion light years wide. It is empty, no galaxies, nothing! Fornax * Fornax is of the 'La Caille' family of constellations. * I wonder if we'll ever visit the Fornax Galaxy. Of course it's 500,000 light years away... * The Fornax constellation is named after the furnace. * We are heading toward Alpha Fornacis. It is a binary star 2.9 billion years old. Cetus * A Spiral Galaxy is a flat rotating disk made up of stars, gas and dust. In the middle of it is a concentration of stars we call the bulge. * Cetus is not part of the Zodiac, but sometimes the moon and the planets may be in it for a short time! * Cetus is part of the 'Perseus' family of constellations. Perseus killed Cetus! * The furthest group of Galaxies we know of is JKCS 041, seen in Cetus,is 9.9 Billion light years away. * The name Cetus refers to a sea monster, but is also known as a whale. * The one Messier Object here is M77, a spiral galaxy. * We are going toward the star Beta Ceti, also known as Diphda, meaning 'Frog'. Constellation Group 3 Sculptor * A Spiral Galaxy is a flat rotating disk made up of stars, gas and dust. In the middle of it is a concentration of stars we call the bulge. * Sculptor is from the 'La Caille' family of constellations. * The Cartwheel Galaxy in Sculptoris is actually made up of a merger of two galaxies! * We're going toward Alpha Sculptoris. It has five times our Sun's mass! Constellation Group 4 Cygnus Lyra Vulpecula Sagitta Delphinus * Beta Delphini is the brightest star in Delphinus. It is a binary star where both stars orbit each other every 26.6 years. * Delphinus is a constellation named after the Dolphin. Aquila * Altair rotates so fast at 286km/s at its equator that it is oblate, with the diameter at the equator 20% greater than the diameter at its poles. Constellation Group 5 Constellation Group 6